Fiesta first impressions at San Diego Car Show

I went to the San Diego Car Show yesterday and saw and test drove the Fiesta. Ford had a very nice display this year compared to the meager displays in past years, although the Ford people working there seemed more interested in talking to each other than talking to show attendees [prospective buyers]. Kind of disappointing in that regard.

The two cars on display were SES models with all the bells & whistles. I was very disappointed to discover that the very nice leather seats don't seem to be available if you specify the Super Fuel Economy package. What in the world makes them think that someone interested in the SFE package wouldn't also be interested in the leather seat option? The SYNC package isn't a true GPS with maps & such. From my meager understanding t's just a voice commanded system that talks back. When looking at the dash display, to my eyes, the red display lettering was difficult to see clearly and the letter size was a bit small for my eyes, also.

All the test drive Fiestas were Euro spec vehicles, but it was nice to experience what is coming for us. The test drive was very short, just up & down the street in front of the Convention Center. With all the traffic, I was lucky to get into third gear for a few seconds (no automatics were available for test). I did notice that the interior is much more quiet than my present Yaris which has pretty loud road noise. The view out the rear view mirror seemed to be blocked by the body style, more so than the Yaris. And the ride was firmer than the Yaris. Overall, I like the car, but I hope Ford marketeers will stop the silly practice of only allowing certain options to be available within strict packages.

Pat